Computer codes are designed to identify soldiers at risk

11:31 PM,
Oct. 4, 2013

Written by

Gregg Zoroya
| USA Today

Even as thousands of U.S. troops were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan during the 12 years of war following 9/11, about 3,000 perished by their own hand, nearly the same as the number of people lost on the day of those terrorist attacks.

Indeed, suicide is a perennial stain on the military that's growing worse each year, a trajectory baffling to military leaders and devastating to the thousands of shattered families left behind. "It just drives me crazy that we can't figure (it) out," says Army Deputy Undersecretary Thomas Hawley.